[X-Newbies] Re: X-Newbies Digest, Vol 12, Issue 5

[Rodney A.Hoiseth]

On Aug 24, 2005, at 16:08, Steven Rogers <srogers1 at austin.rr.com> wrote:

> ------------------------------
>
>
> On Aug 21, 2005, at 8:25 PM, Rodney A.Hoiseth wrote:
>
>> Recently, when using Internet-connected OS X applications
>> (partially listed in the subject line), the active window will
>> repeatedly jump up and down, like it's resisting a pop-up or
>> something. My instinct tells me it's caused by some sort of PC
>> directed malware that can't affect a Mac but keeps trying anyway.
>>
>> Am I way off base?
>
> In short, yes. There is no way for a PC virus to make windows bounce
> around by "trying" to run on OS X, nor is there a way for windows to
> "resist" pop-us. Its more like when you put the wrong key in a lock -
> the lock doesn't "resist" the key, nor does the key "try" to open the
> lock, it simply doesn't work because the parts don't line up.
>
> My guess is that you have an unusual software or hardware problem. I
> couldn't turn up anything like that with Google. It would be
> interesting to know how big the "jumping" is - just a few pixels, the
> width of the menu bar, etc. And how fast is it? And does it jump all
> the time, or just occasionally make one little hop?

First, I forgot to mention I'm on digest, so if you've been wondering 
where I've been, I just received the latest digest.

Thanks, Steven, for the pithy and reassuring answer.

After posting I went back and observed more carefully, and realized 
that my memory of the occurrences had been flawed (imagine that;-).

It isn't the whole window, it's the contents. For example, in Mail, if 
I'm just in a mailbox, viewing one of the messages, it's the message 
(not the list of messages or the window). In the finder, which I view 
by columns, it's the contents of the column furthest to the right. In 
Explorer, it's just the window's contents. In this [Mail] composition 
window, it's the message contents, not the header.

And it seems it does sometimes occur in the background windows, too.

It occurs intermittently, which originally led me to the "service 
attacks" assumption. The "jump" is about one line of text.

I had posted the same question to the MacWizards list and one of the 
Wizards made a suggestion that sounds right, but I haven't followed up 
on it yet: He suggested it might be the scroll wheel on my mouse, (even 
though he had no way of knowing I had a two-button mouse with a scroll 
wheel...) The jumping is similar to the movement produced by the mouse 
(a Kensington "Mouse in a Box").


>
> Regarding the router, most of the pages about that box are in
> Japanese, so that makes it difficult to figure out what the options
> are. I doubt that there is no firewall for it, but figuring it out
> could be tricky. Probably much easier to buy a cheap little router
> box with a firewall than figure out how to retrofit the Buffalo.

You're probably right. I'll go back to the web page and see how complex 
it looks.
Somebody has pointed out that the firewall built into OS X is probably 
all that's necessary anyway.


Vincent Cayenne <vcayenne at mac.com> wrote:

> You *do* mean the actual window and not the application's icon in the
> Dock at the bottom of the screen?

Yes. Actually, the window's content, as I clarified above.

Thanks,
Rodney